Chapter 10: Conflict and House Hunting

◎Wanting to Move Out◎

In the next room, Wei Xuan and Jiang Che were also trying on clothes.

Jiang Che hadn’t even known that Wei Xuan had finished knitting his sweater. When he received it today as a gift, he was pleasantly surprised and asked, “So soon? Didn’t you say you’d finish your own clothes first before making mine?”

“I finished mine a while ago, I just haven’t started wearing them yet. Hurry and try it on, see if it fits.”

Jiang Che held the sweater Wei Xuan had made for him, running his fingers over it with admiration. His eyes lit up as he said, “Then you should try yours on too, let me see.”

Wei Xuan, not wanting the hassle, tried to brush it off. “You’ll see it when I wear it tomorrow. It’s in the wardrobe, and taking it out is a pain.”

“No problem, just tell me where it is, I’ll get it for you.”

Seeing that Jiang Che was already walking toward the wardrobe, Wei Xuan quickly stopped him. “No need, no need, I’ll get it myself. You try yours on first.”

She wouldn’t dare let him rummage through her things—she still remembered the disaster last time when she asked him to grab a pair of socks, and he turned the whole wardrobe upside down.

Jiang Che didn’t mind. As long as she agreed to try it on, that was good enough for him. He placed the new sweater on the bed and began taking off his clothes.

Wei Xuan also took out her new cardigan. Both of them had round necks, so they could be worn over any fitted shirt, or even on their own.

Right now, she was wearing a camisole, so all she had to do was slip the cardigan on.

Once Jiang Che had his sweater on, he turned to look at Wei Xuan and, without hesitation, praised her. “Wei Xuan, you look really good in that.”

Wei Xuan blushed slightly under his gaze and gave him a playful glare. “Have you stared enough? You haven’t even told me if yours fits yet.”

“It fits perfectly,” Jiang Che replied with a smile, knowing his little wife was easily embarrassed. Still unwilling to look away, he asked, “How about me? Do I look good in mine?”

Wei Xuan gave him a once-over. She had to admit—Jiang Che had the perfect build for clothes. The slightly thick sweater didn’t look bulky on him at all; instead, it made him appear even more put together.

The sweater she made for him was mainly gray with a touch of blue, a color scheme that suited his age well.

To avoid making it too small, she had intentionally knitted it a bit looser in a sweatshirt-style fit. In a couple of days, he’d be able to wear it on its own, and when it got colder, he could layer clothes underneath without it feeling too tight.

Jiang Che was tall and good-looking, and the sweater fit him perfectly. Wei Xuan nodded in satisfaction. “Yeah, it looks great.”

Jiang Che was equally pleased. Wearing something personally made by his little wife was a novel experience for him.

The very next day, he brought home a tin of Friendship Snowflake Cream for Wei Xuan. She figured he must have spent nearly all the money he had on him to buy it.

Seeing that Jiang Che knew how to return the favor, Wei Xuan felt her efforts hadn’t been in vain. She decided to treat him even better in the future and didn’t hold back in showering him with praise to show her happiness.

Jiang Che, seeing how delighted she was, felt immensely satisfied. He secretly resolved to give her more gifts in the future. Then, recalling the price of the cream, he winced—spending that much money hurt. But since his little wife liked it, it was money well spent.

For a while, the two of them were more satisfied with each other than ever, spending several days in a sweet and affectionate haze.

But their peaceful days didn’t last long. In less than two days, Jiang Che’s eldest sister-in-law started complaining about something, acting passive-aggressively toward Wei Xuan every time they met. She even stopped making dinner on her designated nights, knowing that Wei Xuan got off work earlier than she did. On purpose, she started coming home late, forcing Wei Xuan into a situation where she had no choice but to cook—after all, they couldn’t let the whole family sit around starving while waiting for her to come back.

After a few days of this, the family gradually caught on. The difference between Jiang’s sister-in-law’s cooking and Wei Xuan’s was noticeable. At first, everyone thought Wei Xuan was just helping out—nothing unusual for a family.

But after eating her meals for an entire week straight, people started questioning things. Was Jiang’s sister-in-law really that busy? They all worked at the same factory, and everyone knew exactly how much work there was.

That evening, everyone was already seated at the table, about to start dinner, when Jiang’s sister-in-law finally strolled in.

“Oh, you’ve already started eating? I’ve been a bit busy these days. Really appreciate the trouble, sister-in-law, for making dinner,” she said with a casual smile, setting her bag down behind her chair before sitting.

Jiang’s mother glanced at her and asked directly, “Has the factory been that busy lately? I haven’t heard anything about it.”

Jiang’s sister-in-law paused, setting down her chopsticks just as she was about to pick up some food. “It’s not the factory… My younger brother’s wife just finished her postpartum confinement, so I went over to help out.”

As soon as she said this, Jiang’s eldest brother’s face darkened.

“Hmph,” Jiang’s mother snorted, showing no intention of giving her any face. “Then why didn’t you just stay at your mother’s house for dinner before coming back?”

Jiang’s sister-in-law felt a little embarrassed by her words and didn’t respond.

Jiang’s mother continued, “You can go help out if you want, but make sure you finish your own responsibilities first.”

Jiang’s sister-in-law immediately understood—someone must have stirred up trouble! She shot a sharp glare at Wei Xuan. No wonder her mother-in-law suddenly decided to call her out today—the real culprit was this countryside sister-in-law.

And to think she had believed Wei Xuan to be a quiet and obedient type. Turns out, she was just pretending! Barely a few days into the marriage, and she was already running off to complain? All just because she had to cook a few extra meals?

Tch. No surprise there. A woman who could get along so well with her younger brother-in-law—how good could she really be?

No matter how much she resented it inside, Jiang’s sister-in-law obediently replied, “Got it, Mom. I’ll be more mindful in the future.”

“Mm, as long as you understand.” Seeing her behave, Jiang’s mother didn’t press the issue further, especially with her grandchildren present.

Wei Xuan, who had just been on the receiving end of a glare from Jiang’s sister-in-law, felt completely innocent in all this. What did any of this have to do with her? Talk about trouble falling from the sky.

That night, as she closed the door, she muttered about it to Jiang Che. He simply told her not to pay attention to it: “Big Sister-in-law has always been like this. Just treat it like she’s not right in the head.”

Wei Xuan almost wanted to crack open his head and check what was inside—this guy really didn’t understand anything!

After thinking for a moment, she tentatively suggested, “Why don’t we move out and live on our own?”

Jiang Che assumed she was just venting and absentmindedly responded with a casual agreement.

But the more Wei Xuan thought about it, the better the idea seemed.

First of all, she really didn’t want to keep dealing with Jiang’s sister-in-law and that sour expression. Even if it didn’t cause her any actual harm, having someone constantly making snide remarks around her was just plain annoying.

Secondly, she had always wanted to save more money. In the future, whether it was for having children or starting a small business once restrictions were lifted, it would be good to have some financial flexibility. But making money on the side wasn’t something she wanted too many people to know about—there were too many people in this household, and too many eyes made things inconvenient.

Buying a house and moving out would mean she could do whatever she wanted. How freeing would that be?

Seeing that Jiang Che wasn’t paying attention to her, she kept pestering him. “So, can we do it or not?”

Jiang Che, getting annoyed by her persistence, asked in return, “You really want to move out that badly?”

Hearing that, Wei Xuan sensed a chance. She immediately nodded. “Yes, I do.”

Seeing how her eyes lit up at the idea of moving out, it was obvious she was serious. Jiang Che chuckled. “Tsk, isn’t living at home great? You don’t have to worry about chores since the older sisters and sister-in-law help out, and Mom and Dad even pitch in from time to time. We have food, we have drinks—no worries at all. If we move out, we won’t have it this easy. We’ll have to do everything ourselves, and the place we live in might not even be as nice as this.”

Of course, Wei Xuan knew that their current living situation was already better than most people’s, and she should be grateful. But she still wanted to have a place of her own. Even if it meant working harder, she was willing to accept that.

Since she was so determined, Jiang Che couldn’t keep rejecting her outright. Instead, he brought up a very practical problem. “Where would we move to? Neither of us is eligible for housing allocation yet.”

“Can’t we just buy a house?”

“With what money?” Jiang Che asked.

“I have money!” Wei Xuan declared. “The bride price money is still untouched, and my mom secretly gave me some savings for my dowry too.”

Like hell she’d let money be the reason to back down when she had finally gotten Jiang Che to soften up!

Jiang Che was surprised. “You’re willing to spend all that money on a house?”

Wei Xuan thought about it and said, “I’ll cover it for now, and from now on, your salary will go toward savings and household expenses.” She wasn’t going to lose out anyway—if the house appreciated in value, she’d make a profit. And if she could get Jiang Che to start handing over his salary willingly, that’d be an added bonus.

Jiang Che was clearly reluctant. He wanted to brush the idea aside, mumbling excuses. In his mind, his young wife was just being impulsive again. With that much money, she could do plenty of other things—why insist on buying a house? Once she actually moved out, she’d realize how tough it was.

But Wei Xuan didn’t care. Since he didn’t outright refuse, she took it as a yes.

The next day at work, she approached Sister Hong to ask if she knew of any houses for sale—or even rentals.

“What’s going on? Trouble at home?” Sister Hong asked, a little surprised. After spending some time together, she knew that Wei Xuan lived with her in-laws and that her husband’s family was well-off. The young woman seemed to be living quite comfortably, so it was unexpected that she’d suddenly be looking for a place.

“Oh no, it’s nothing like that,” Wei Xuan quickly clarified. “I just think living separately would be more comfortable. And finding a house isn’t something that happens overnight, so I figured I’d start looking early.”

“Alright, I’ll keep an eye out for you. Renting shouldn’t be a problem, but buying might be tough. Houses aren’t like they used to be—most of them are workplace-assigned housing now. There aren’t many privately owned houses, and even if people have them, most are reluctant to sell.”

“Renting is fine too. I’ll just look around first. If I can’t find anything, then I’ll just let it go.” Although she was a little disappointed that buying wasn’t an option, she was okay with renting for now. If nothing else, she could always save up and buy a better place in the future.

“Don’t worry. Renting a place shouldn’t be too hard. Just wait for my good news.”

Sister Hong’s family was relatively well-off. Her in-laws were already retired but still received a monthly pension, so she and her husband didn’t need to support them financially. In fact, they even helped take care of the children, lightening her burden.

Her husband was a level-seven technician at a machinery factory, earning a solid salary. Combined with Sister Hong’s job at the supply and marketing cooperative, their family lived quite comfortably.

When Wei Xuan mentioned looking for a house, Sister Hong entrusted the task to her mother-in-law, who used to work at the neighborhood committee. She had a wide network and always had access to the latest information, making her the perfect person for the job.

Sure enough, within just a couple of days, they had a promising lead. Before heading home from work, Wei Xuan made sure to buy a bag of White Rabbit milk candies and went with Sister Hong to her house.

Since she was asking for help, it wouldn’t be right to show up empty-handed. At this time, White Rabbit milk candy was considered a respectable gift.